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26.2.09

Tavastian Rye Rusks ‒ Hämäläiset ruiskorput

During the last talvennapa (An old pagan feast around January 13th to celebrate the ending of joulu ‒ that is Christmas time ‒ and welcome the Sun or Päivätär back.) I tried a Tavastian rusk my friend had baked for the occasion. I bit but it wouldn't break. I gnawed but it didn't do much help either. Eventually it took me about an hour to finish the damn thing. And since I still got some tooth left I decided I have to make those myself. I mean we never have anything to offer for the guests cause we hoard everything ourselves, probably to survive over winter. These have coped well, almost like dwarf bread, Terry Pratchett's parody of lembas.

Got this recipe from another friend (Thanks Lemelina!) who was also the source for the baker of the ones I had crunched. Only tweaked it by changing the cow milk into soy milk (which I find richer than oat milk) and butter into margarine.

Dissolve the yeast into lukewarm milk. Mix in everything else except the margarine. Start with a wooden fork and continue by hand. Now also add the margarine. Let the dough rise under a kerchief for couple of hours.

Knead the dough even and form oval buns out of it. Bake them in 225°C for 8‒10 minutes. Let them cool down a little. Halve them with a fork and place on the baking sheet with the split side upwards. Put the rusks back in the oven you already turned off and let them brown in the residual heat. If your oven doesn't keep warm, put it on a mild temperature like 50°C until the rusks are dry.

At first I thought I did something wrong cause my rusks seemed edible. But eventually they dried on their own. Now they're perfect and yummy!